


The Capture

by Vinnocent



Series: Morphing Human [4]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Being Human (UK), Being Human (US/Canada)
Genre: Abandonment, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Book 6: The Capture, Choking, Consent Issues, F/M, Familial Abuse, Familicide, Gen, Self-Sacrifice, Suicide, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-14 22:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1281280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vinnocent/pseuds/Vinnocent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on book #6 of the Animorphs series, The Capture, Cassie and Ax scramble to cover for the absences of Jake and Marco as Marco endures his second full moon and the Animorphs trade off keeping watch of a Yeerk-infested Jake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drown the Child (Temrash 114)

My designation is Temrash one-one-four. I am a servant of the Empire. We are unstoppable. We are mighty. We will prevail over all.

* * *

He was a mess of instincts. Breathe. Don't breathe. Vomit. No, breathe. I tried to sort them out, but he was filled with panic. Too filled with panic for me to grasp control yet. This wasn't quite the Human host I'd had before. There was something…

Different.

He had pool water in his lungs. The idiot had fallen in. It might explain why the temperature gauge had been jarred upward. I took control and forced an expulsion, clearing his breathing passage.

If he'd stop fighting me on this, he'd experience a lot less pain.

A gunshot rang out.

"Stop firing, you fool!" someone shouted. "The pool is in there! Visser Three will eat your guts!"

Idiot. The Visser would also devour them for implying he didn't have a right to consume subordinates.

My host's attention diverted to his companions. He thought that Ax and Cassie could not last without him.

Ax

and

Cassie

those

_yes_

The information poured in. I had the SubHuman Type One ally of the "Andalite Bandits." Except only one of them was an Andalite, and a child at that. The others were a morph-capable Human child and a morph-capable SubHuman Type Three, allied with two SubHuman Type Ones and a SubHuman Type Two gaining power we haven't documented before. All of them children. One of the SubHuman Type Ones had given blood to the one that had given blood to Iniss two-two-six's host.

It was perfect, but it was far better than a presidential candidate.

A gorilla and an immature humanoid in a cranial protector burst into the room, tossing Hork-Bajir aside as though they were primitive infant care practice tools.

<Jake's hurt,> I heard Cassie say. It was private thoughtspeak, but I could hear what he heard. <He fell in the Yeerk pool!>

<Rachel, grab Jake,> Marco ordered. <Get his mask back on! Ax and I will hold the door. Cassie, change morph. We need more firepower.>

We were tossed over Jake's cousin's shoulders in what I had learned was called a fireman's carry. She did not succeed in finding his mask and muttered "fuck it," before taking off.

We were still coughing and sputtering (how much does breathing really matter to a SubHuman Type One?) as Rachel took off down the halls of the hospital. A tiger, still in the process of morphing, with its tail growing and muscles bulking up, took off in the opposite direction, back toward the fight, to give us some cover.

Jake was starting to relax as our breathing eased but became more confused as he came to realize that it made nothing easier for him. Rachel paused only a half second to breakdown an entrance hindrance constructed of vegetable matter with a swift kick.

<What a classic One move,> I thought to ourself.

<Cassie! Get out! Morph horse! Help them escape! We'll fly out when you're far enough!> Marco ordered.

"Jake?" Rachel demanded, pausing to break another entrance hindrance. "Are you okay? Jake?"

"Heead," he muttered.

"Headache?" she asked. There was relief in her voice. "No surprise, really."

"Something... wrong... I can't... think."

"Don't worry. Take a break. We have it under control." She hesitated. "More or less." She was looking around. For a horse, probably.

<Oh be quiet.>

<What?>

I used our hand to push our hair out of our face as she put us down. The horse came running up, and Rachel shoved our hand away.

<What?> he asked again.

<Quiet!> I ordered. <I'm working.>

<What? I can't… I…>

Rachel easily pulled herself up on Cassie's back. We were less easy, but she did succeed. Cassie bolted before we were all the way up. Controllers were pouring out of the hospital. She ran and ran at full gallop, through large Californian vegetation, across the flat-groomed vegetation of Human habitations, and down primitive transport passageways where Cassie's hooves clattered loudly. Cassie jumped a barrier of planks constructed from vegetable matter. We were tossed, and Rachel attempted to grab hold of Cassie, but the horse screamed, and we landed hard on the planetary soil. Of course, I took the majority of our pain.

<Don't struggle, Jake,> I warned him as he attempted to get up before we were ready, just to see why he had such limited control. <It's pointless.>

<Who? What? Who is saying that?>

<Put that primitive SubHuman brain to work, Jake. Jake, the Animorph,> I mocked him. <Jake, the servant of the Andalite filth!>

His eyes would have widened. He would have drawn in sharp breath. He would have shouted. He would have crawled away to his friends. He would have cried.

But he had no permission to do such.

<NO! NO! NO!> he protested.

<Jake, are you all right?> Cassie asked. We glanced at her. She had not heard him. She was only concerned because she had thrown us. Even he was sure of this.

A humanoid figure suddenly appeared perched on the barrier Cassie had just poorly vaulted. Tobias, Jake's memories informed me right away. SubHuman Type Two. Unaware of the circumstances of his death. Often visible to an Empowered Human (Cassie), and even capable of interacting with her.

<Shut up! Stop it! Get out of my brain!>

"Is he okay?" asked Tobias as Rachel came to my side.

<I can't tell,> Cassie said. <He's alive. He's breathing. But it's like he's zoned out or something. We may have to take him to a doctor.>

I was still melding into the brain. Neither of us really had control. He could not give me away, but if I didn't do something soon, they would figure us out.

<They have me! They are inside me!> he attempted to scream, but the words only went as far as me.

<Your struggles are useless, SubHuman Type One. It won't matter, in the end. I am in your head. I am wrapped around your brain like a living blanket.>

<NO!>

<I can read your thoughts. I control your body. I am tapped into your memory. I can read it like a book.>

<Get out of my head!> he continued to protest as I connected more and more neurons. <No! No!>

<Oh, I don't think I want to do that, Jake. Why would I abandon such an interesting host? So you are the one of those who have driven Visser Three half-mad with rage. A child. The shorty.>

<Shorty? How do-->

<You're surprised I know what Tom calls you? Ha ha ha. Oh, the irony really is sweet. Don't you get it, clever Jake? Don't you see what's happened, my little Animorph?>

Cassie had become a Human again. She knelt down beside us and looked down into our eyes. "He's alert. His eyes are tracking. Jake? Jake, can you talk to me?"

Ugh, I still hadn't found the right neurons. So, I continued to distract the boy. <I am Temrash one-one-four,> I told him. <Formerly Temrash two-five-two, of the Sulp Niar pool. I have been promoted. No doubt you are happy for me.>

<You filthy slug! Get out of my head!> he protested.

<Do you know what my last host was? Who it was?>

<Shut up! Shut up! Stop talking to me! Go away,> he whined, ever the eternal child.

<It was Tom, of course. Your brother's greatgrandson. I am the Yeerk who controlled your nephew.>

His hysteria spiked. That was unusual. Usually, hosts were overcome with melancholy by such revelations. <Don't you even mention him! You and all your filthy slugs will burn for ever touching him!>

"Jake," Tobias tried talking to him. "lf you can hear me, move your hand."

Marco and Ax settled down as birds. <Why are we all parking our asses in suburbia? What's wrong with Jake?>

"We have to get him to--" Cassie started, and Rachel snapped, "If you say 'doctor' again, I will hit you."

<We do not hit fellow Animorphs,> Marco chided.

"I've hit Jake like seven times today."

<Well, no wonder he's in a coma.>

Rachel hit the osprey.

<OW! FUCK! DELICATE BIRD BONES!>

"I'm not in a coma," we finally said. "I'm fine."

<No! NO! Fuck you, those aren't my words!>

"No way," Cassie insisted. "You were out of it for almost twenty minutes. You didn't answer me for about five. Even if we can't take you to a doctor, there's got to be someone who can--"

"We heal," Rachel assured her. "He'll get over it." She smiled at us. "Won't you, Jakey-Boy?"

"Absolutely," we agreed, standing. The thing about going from a teenager's brain to a ninety-year-old's brain is that it's kind of like moving from a tiny village to a metropolitan area. You can get a bit lost at first. "Let's blouse."

We barely saw Rachel move.


	2. Aunt Lis (Jake & Rachel backstory)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1929...

"Augh! Jake, it's cold!"

"Well, I'm not the one who attacked nature."

"Nature attacked first," Rachel countered as he ran the garden hose over her head. Her pout was ruined by sputtering. "Besides… I'm starving."

"I know."

She pulled him closer, suddenly, causing the hose to fall to the side. "I can't do it," she whined desperately. "I can't go without it. Jake, I need it..."

He dropped the hose and started unwinding her fingers from his shirt. "You can," he promised. He was trying to stay calm, for her, but his hands were shaking. "Just give it time. It just takes time. That's what Hedrick said."

"That's not what he said, and you know it."

~~**| BLOOD EVERYWHERE ON THE HANDS CAN'T RINCE IT OFF |** ~~

"Nate?"

"Horsefeathers," Jake blasted Rachel one last time before turning off the nozzle. "That must be whoever lives here."

"Maybe we should wait," Rachel suggested. "This place seems familiar."

"That is the exact reason we should--"

"Nate?" The woman rounded the corner. "I thought I saw you! Nate, Suse! I wasn't expecting you! My, you shot up!" She looked them over. "Suse, did you fall into the mud or something?"

"Y-ees?" Rachel guessed, glancing at Jake uncertainly. "Some… very red mud."

~~**| SHE WON'T STOP SCREAMING |** ~~

"I don't know how you tricked Lis, but you ain't her nephew's kids!" he heard Jeff insisting. The benefit of adjoining bedrooms. Aunt Lis and her husband (wow, the past twelve years had changed things) weren't short on guest bedrooms. Bonus of having good jobs and coming from far too big of a family, likely. (They probably had the expectation that they wouldn't stay guest bedrooms.)

Nephew… That meant Gideon, more than likely. Jake quickly did the math in his head and decided that Jeff was right. Either Gideon had been busier than he should have been in the war, or Lis had a terrible memory for family.

"Please, Uncle Jeff, you're misunderstanding!" she lied. "We really were sent ahead of the family! We really do need a place to stay!"

"The hell you were! When G replies to my letter, I'll expose you for the frauds you are."

Letter? Why didn't Gideon still live in Vallejo? Maybe Gideon _had_ been busy in Europe…

"No, Uncle Jeff, I'm not--"

"I'm not your uncle!" And then the sound of him hitting her. "And while you're staying here, you're gonna earn your damned keep!"

Jake got out of bed.

~~**| THE KNIFE CUT THE BLOOD BURBLED HE WANTED HE WANTED SHE WANTED MORE |** ~~

"It wasn't a bad idea," she said from the shower.

"What wasn't?" he asked, jarred from his thoughts.

"Staying with family."

Jake fell off the toilet lid he'd been perched on. "Are you kidding me? I just had to bump Jeff off to dry him up, and you _ate_ the both of them."

"No, I'm not kidding," she insisted. "Okay, it went bad _this_ time…"

"'Bad,'" he repeated.

"But… well… We're thirteen, alright? Forever. Everywhere we go, we're gonna be suspicious, unless we have someone to vouch for us."

"And how do you suggest we convince them that it's not another lie?" Jake demanded.

"We won't be blind-sided. We'll plot this one. Plan ahead. For example, Gideon's kids? Not believable. We're too old, I think. We just sort of look like them. And if he came to check out the story, he'd identify you right away. We've gotta stay away from G."

Jake rolled his eyes, despite knowing his cousin couldn't see it. "And how do you suggest we avoid this situation?"

There was silence for a moment. Then, Rachel finally answered, "Well, Lis and Jeff certainly can't argue with any claims we make toward them."

Jake groaned. But, somehow, he found himself saying, "It would have to be a more distant relation. Further out on the family tree."

"Now you're on the trolley." Rachel pulled back the shower curtain. "Okay, then, your turn. I'll get rid of all the evidence that ties us to the murder, while you clean up. Then, we call the cops in despair over our poor, departed 'parents'."

"I'd feel more comfortable with this conversation if you weren't having it naked," Jake said, standing up to pull off his bloody shirt.

"It's nothing you haven't seen before, you bluenose," she snorted, heading out of the bathroom.

"You might consider brushing your teeth," he called after her.

<What a fascinating memory.>


	3. You’re So Fake (Ax)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. I am an aristh of the Andalite military. I wanted to be like my brother, to live up to his name.
> 
> I am not certain what that means any more.
> 
> My brother defied all orders for the sake of a people we don’t know. That we have no attachment to. He gave our technology to strangers. He taught them things of us and our war, to help them resist their part of it. By all commands, he should have killed himself the moment that escape became impossible, but instead he risked capture, he risked another Andalite-Controller…
> 
> To do what?
> 
> I am still not certain.
> 
> My friends, the ones he gave technology and knowledge to, are convinced of his valiance, the very thing I wished to emulate. But could I do what he has? Could I throw away our every command, endanger our own people, to help primitives fight for themselves… briefly? Futilely?
> 
> Is this what valiance is? I look inside myself, and I do not think that I can emulate that condition.
> 
> I do not know what I believe.

* * *

<Are those words that usually result in a fighting response?> I asked, as Prince Marco attempted to tackle Rachel.

"AUGH! NO, GET OFF! YOU'RE BLEEDING!" she shouted, throwing him aside, against the side of the residence of the "yard" we were presently occupying. Luckily, it seemed that no one was home, as the interior lights were off, and we had not yet caused trouble for being there.

"Get off Jake!" he argued, righting himself to start at her again.

"It's not Jake!"

Jake grunted as he began to regain consciousness from Rachel's previous attack. She quickly kicked him in the face, and he collapsed once more. Prince Marco hesitated and looked over the scene for a moment before asking, "What do you mean, 'It's not Jake'?"

"'Let's blouse' is slang from the flapper era," she explained. "Jake is really strict about staying with the times. We fuck up sometimes, but from that long ago? _He_ wouldn't."

"Using the wrong word is pretty minor, Rachel," Cassie said. "My grandpa uses words I don't know all the time."

"Your grandpa's never been staked because someone figured out how old he is," Rachel snarled.

That appeared to surprise them. "You've been staked?" Cassie asked, and I was uncertain what they meant by this term.

Rachel shrugged absently. "Well, mostly him. Luckily, your average Joe isn't a genius at anatomy."

<Actually… Rachel may have a point,> I interjected, and they turned their attention to me. <Jake fell into the Yeerk pool. It takes time for a Yeerk to gain full control of a host brain, which would explain how long Jake was confused and unresponsive. Unfamiliarity with a new host is what most often causes them to break cover; for example, wording things the wrong way. Linguistics are actually a key component to rooting out impostors, as this is the most difficult to perfectly mimic, even from inside the brain. In fact, it is the whole reason that we developed the study.>

Rachel blinked at me. "Andalites didn't study language before Yeerks?"

<Why would we? We only have one.>

Cassie and Prince Marco looked to each other, then to Jake, then to me. This was followed by the minor transformation of Rachel's eyes and teeth which is the key external characteristic of the artificial humanoid subspecies called "vampire." This transformation is a threat display, though it also conveys emotion. "Jake has one of those things in him?!" Rachel said very loudly. Her voice was a much higher pitch than normal, and it was normally high pitched.

"Hey, hey, we're in public," Prince Marco said, reaching out to touch her for calming purposes.

Rachel hissed at him.

<We only know that there is evidence that favors the theory. We must secure Jake until we know that he is safe for release,> I suggested.

"How long will that take?" Rachel demanded.

"Three days," Cassie said solemnly.

Prince Marco shook his head. "How are we going to--?"

But we were quickly distracted from our argument as Rachel's feet were pulled out from her. She fell onto her face, and Jake swung her into the building. The clay block exterior shattered with the impact of her body.

Prince Marco was morphing, but he wasn't fast enough. Jake leapt toward him, and Prince Marco swung a grotesquely muscling arming at his friend, but Jake bowed out of the way and shot an elbow hard up into Prince Marco's face.

Prince Marco crumpled.

Cassie was morphing, but she wasn't ready. "Ax, whash dah we dah?"

<Protect the others. I can handle him.> I braced my legs and waited for his advance.

Jake grinned, bearing vicious fangs, his wide eyes gleaming. Good enough.

I struck!

He

He dodged.

Just barely fast enough. The flat of my blade bruised the side of his face, and the tip cut the shoulder of his "shirt." And yet, a primitive creature had dodged _my_ tail!

I side-stepped as he rushed the side of me, preparing for another blow, but he was thrown against the side of the "fence," bowing the planks!

<I feel like we should leave a note for this homeowner,> said Cassie, standing over Rachel. <"Sorry about the alien invasion on your doorstep. Please bill the Yeerk pool.">

<Is this more Earth humor?> I asked.

Jake growled and thrashed at something, and I felt an unbearable chill pass through me. He started toward us again, then stopped, looking around in confusion. He was immediately blown sideways by an invisible force.

<I like this 'Tobias,'> I decided.

<You like Tobias,> Cassie corrected. <Remember our lesson on talking about people like they're people?>

Jake was lifted and thrown again. Rachel got up. Cassie turned toward her. <Rachel, help restrain Jake! We don't want to kill him!>

Rachel snorted, muttering something about not being easy, but she stormed toward Jake, who was thrashing against the force.

I felt useless and foolish. I did not belong here, fighting beside them.

After some hesitation, Cassie moved toward the form of the partially morphed and unconscious Prince Marco. "Ax!" Rachel called. "I could use some more direct blunt-force trauma! Y'know, if you feel like it?"

I was surprised by her suggestion, but could see that she and Tobias were struggling to control Jake. He wasn't strong enough to defeat both of them. But he was strong enough to make their jobs exhausting. This time, the blow of my tail was delivered efficiently.

<Marco is responding, but he's out of it,> Cassie reported, nuzzling him with her horse snout. <Marco? Marco, you have to demorph. Please listen to me.>

He made only a vague noise.

"Looks like we're getting them out of here the hard way," Rachel said, already pulling Jake toward Cassie. "We're just going to have to keep knocking Jake out for the time being."

<And then?>

Cassie looked at me, but Rachel looked toward the fence. It appeared that Tobias and I asked the same question. Rachel turned back to Cassie. "Do you have all that junk I stole from Hedrick?"

<I do,> I informed her. <Prince Marco considered it impractical to be kept by-->

"Yeah yeah, blah blah blah paranoia stuff," Rachel said, gesticulating. "Look, there was a control collar in that mess. I thought it wasn't unfathomable that it might be useful in the future. We get that, a hypodermic needle, and heavy gloves from the clinic, we can set him up with only one or two guards at a time."

<A… _what_? > asked Cassie.

<Will Jake's absence not be noticed?> I asked.

Rachel frowned and looked over the mess of a scene. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, we've got to get an unconscious kidnapee and a semi-conscious half-morph out to park land on the back of a horse."

* * *

Prince Marco was glaring at Rachel while simultaneously grasping the crook of his arm and the lower portion of his face, which was bruising and swelling up but at least he had stopped spitting blood. And teeth. Wearing bulky gloves borrowed from the wildlife clinic kept by Cassie's parents, Rachel carefully pumped a needle full of Prince Marco's blood into a capsule attached to a small belt. A few other primitive controls were also on the attached to the belt. Rachel buckled it tightly to Jake's neck as he sat tied to the trunk of a tree, unconscious.

"Right, so... He can totally get out of those ropes with a few minutes' effort," Rachel informed us, "but that's enough time to press this button." She held out the small remote to show the rest of us. "Assuming everything works right in it, pressing the button will shatter the capsule, spilling werewolf blood right on Jake's jugular and burning a hole through half of his neck."

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN TELLING ME NOT TO BLEED ON PEOPLE!" Prince Marco shouted. 

"Not people. Vampires," Rachel corrected.

"Oh." He thought about that for a moment. "Well, now I'm just confused."

"Get that ice pack back on your face," Cassie chastised.

"All that cold just gives me a bigger ache," he protested.

"Now you know how we feel," she said with a smile.

Uncertain of the point of their discussion, I turned my attention to Rachel. <Would such an action kill Jake?>

She scowled. "I'm… honestly not sure. It's the sort of situation where it's really better if he does die. But, really, the Yeerk doesn't want that to happen either, does he? Whether Jake dies or is incapacitated, the Yeerk still has to escape to a forest of enemies and animal predators. Bad idea."

"This doesn't seem like an awesome idea," Prince Marco mumbled, cradling the ice pack against his jaw.

"He'd do it for me." She was quiet when she said it, but I believe that she was certain on this fact.

Jake was awake again. "Guys, I'm not a Controller," he said immediately. "You're overreacting."

"You broke my mouth!" Prince Marco cried angrily.

"I'm sorry," Jake pleaded. "I was confused. I'd taken a big knock myself. Several, in fact. And I'd swallowed that noxious Yeerk pool fluid, and--"

<Yeerk pools are filled with nutrients and beneficial microorganisms,> I argued.

He glared at me very briefly before donning the expression of disbelief and desperation again. "And… radiation!" Jake said. "Right? Cassie's been mentioning that, hasn't she? That they need to eat special radiation that's normally made by their super unique sun?"

"Yeah, radiation is super toxic and trippy," Cassie agreed. "Which is why we never eat bananas."

"Definitely can't go anywhere near TVs or computers without punching our friends," Rachel added.

"Let alone get an expensive dental scans with the insurance we don't have," Prince Marco grumbled, and Cassie touched his shoulder, frowning.

"Ax, can he morph his teeth back and the trauma away?" she asked.

<Perhaps,> I answered honestly. <But I think he should wait as long as possible. To lose consciousness during morphing… well, he's already done that once.>

"Yeah, good idea," Prince Marco said, sitting down. "I think this is making me sick."

"Oh no," Cassie murmured.

Rachel ignored them and stepped forward. "Jake and Yeerk, you are wearing a control collar. I don't know if the Yeerk knows what that is, but Jake does. So whatever's going on, I suggest--" Jake immediately started struggling. Rachel shoved the remote in his face pointedly and said loudly, "I _suggest_ that you start complying with whatever we tell you to do unless you want your head blown off."

His eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

Rachel knelt in front of him and put a fist over his chest. "Together. Each other. Forever."

He snorted. "And how are you going to hide from whoever they put in poor Gideon -- oooo, I mean _Thomas_ 's head that Jake will been missing for three days since the Andalites attacked the pool meant for the governor's infestation?"

The others exchanged uncertain glances.

<What is "gideon"?> I asked.

Rachel glanced back at me. "The Yeerk is making a dig. Jake lives with a distant relative who looks very much like his brother, Gideon, did at that age."

I considered this for a moment. <When I used the Frolis Maneuver, I did my best to concentrate on what I gathered to be the male form of your species, since I am male in my species and thought this might be a more comfortable identity.>

Prince Marco rubbed his mouth with the ice pack. "Your point?"

<If genetics are so easily preservable in human lineage that two people generations apart are incidentally very similar, it is possible that if I take enough samples from his family and concentrate on his image, I can morph a very close approximation of Jake.>

"Close enough to fool people who see him every day?" demanded the Yeerk.

Prince Marco laughed. "He doesn't have to fool them. He only has to convince them that Andalites are trying to get closer to Tom, and not that Jake is one of them."

<That… is not an Andalite tactic,> I informed Prince Marco privately.

"Be convincing," Prince Marco told me. "And do the best morph you can."

"You're going to take an Andalite out to acquire from the very people you're trying to prevent suspicion in?" the Yeerk sneered.

Rachel shook her head. "There are fourteen good candidates for Jake DNA inside this county. If you really want to fly across the state, you could even go acquire old man Gideon."

<I think it would be more beneficial to stay within easier zones of travel,> I said.

Prince Marco nodded in agreement. "And you should accompany him, Rachel. You're the encyclopedia of family members. I'll go give the story of Jake staying over with me, and then go home to man the phone for a bit and check in with my dad. Cassie's already done her checking in, so she can stay here with Tobias and keep the button at ready."

Jake snorted. "Yep, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that plan."

Prince Marco glared and threw down the ice pack. An expression of frustration, I believe. "No, there is not anything wrong with my --AUGH!" His hand went to his stomach, and, somehow, Rachel was immediately positioned behind me. "Oh shit." He glared again at Jake. "You distracted us!"

The Yeerk shrugged. "Oops?"

The plan had been to sabotage the hospital and then escort Prince Marco to the "old arena." We would have had two to three hours before his obligatory transformation process, had everything gone right.

Prince Marco started to say something, but he buckled over in pain. "Marco, go osprey with me, now!" Cassie ordered. "It should buy you time, I think! It'll at least get you to the arena faster. Ax, morph harrier. We'll fly out and get him into the cage. Rachel and Tobias stay and watch Jake. When we get back, we'll arrange going forward wirsh da--"

<with the plan,> she finished.

"Sure," the Yeerk laughed with Jake's mouth as my forelegs disappeared and fur gave way to feathers. Yeerk Control was sickening to see in someone you knew. "Just leave a highly infectious monster alone in an unsecured location in the middle of the very population you purport to want to save," he sneered. "Do you even know how to pick a lock?"

<He so much as wriggles again,> Prince Marco warned, fluttering up from the forest floor, <press the button.>

Rachel nodded in confirmation, but there was a strangeness to her stance. As I shrank down, I saw her hair move aside, seemingly of its own volition. She leaned toward its absence.

The Yeerk rolled Jake's eyes and smacked Jake's head backward against the tree.


	4. Jimmy (Jake & Rachel backstory)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1963...

~~**| SPLINTERS FILL THE FLESH |** ~~

"We can change, Jake! We can be better!"

Jake just shook his head. "We've tried that. We've done that! Again and again!"

"No, but I swear I don't want to eat him!" Rachel promised. "Not really! I mean, like I notice… things… but it's not the same, I swear! We'll be different! I can be with him!"

Jake shook his head. "That's not fair…"

"How is that not fair?! You're the one not being fair, Jake! I can't live my life locked up forever! Give me a chance to be human!"

_< Oh, I wonder where this came from?>_

"New school, huh?" Jake said, prodding Rachel with the fakest of smiles plastered on his face.

She glared at him. "I miss my Vallejo friends."

Jake's eyes narrowed and his voice dropped to conspiratorial whisper. "You and Melissa ate your Vallejo friends." He prodded her in the side. "Which is why we're not talking to Melissa?"

"Not all of them!" Rachel insisted yet again. "I can name at least six who are still cherry."

"Here's a novel idea! Let's leave them that way!" Jake said with mock shock at his own suggestion.

"Hey, you!"

Rachel turned around, toward the summoning voice. Jake glared at her. "Why did you answer to that?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Who else is there to take an interest in around here?"

As it turned out, it was for her. From a boy who was hurrying through the crowd of boys to catch up with them. "Hey," he greeted her again. "James, but everyone calls me Jimmy. You're a new chick aren't you?"

"I'm _the_ new chick," she corrected.

"Well, The, I don't suppose you need a guide to this far confusing place?" Jimmy asked.

"I definitely could!" Rachel said, grinning broadly. "I don't supposed you know the way to 305?"

"I know exactly that way!"

"Boss! After you!"

Jake rolled his eyes. "Rhoda…"

"Jonaaah!"

"Yeah, Jonah," said Jimmy, grinning as he took Rachel's elbow and lead her off.

~~**| BONE BREAKS BENEATH THE IMPACT |** ~~

At lunch, they were sitting across from each other, feet entwined.

After school, they walked out holding hands, gabbing happily.

On weekends they were at each other's houses helping babysit or playing with Jimmy's dog.

Or they were out at the roller rink.

Or they were sneaking out to the park at night to get high.

And all Jake saw when he looked at them was the mess he would have to clean up.

_< And how did that go?>_

"LEEET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OOOUT!" Rachel screamed, fists slamming so hard against the bathroom door that hinges were cracking away from the frame. "I NEED IT! GIVE IT TO ME!! YOU CAN'T KEEP US AWAY, JAKE! YOU CAN'T STOP IT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

Jake calmly shoved at a low, solid wooden shelf in from the living room, its shelves still filled. It took some effort but not nearly as much as it seemed like it should. Once it was blocking the bathroom door, he turned to Jimmy. "Do you get it now? Do you understand what you let her do to you?"

"This… this isn't…"

"This is forever," Jake told him. "Unending hunger. Not burgers. Not bunnies. You'll tear open children with your teeth because you can't not. You'll kill your parents because you couldn't stay away. And it goes on forever." He gestured to the stake on the table. "Until you die."

Jimmy shook his head, horrified, backing away from the scene. "This is wrong. This is just so… I don't want this."

"Good." Jake picked up the wooden stake. "That makes you a better person than me."

_< Oh my hero.>_

_< GET OUT OF MY HEAD!>_


	5. Boys Will Be Boys (Cassie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My name is Cassie, and I’m afraid of how easily our rules, our morals, our boundaries are compromised. “Never okay” becomes “sometimes okay” becomes “never even thought about.”
> 
> And I fear the day I look in the mirror and don’t see the same girl.

* * *

I got dressed before morphing. It seemed like the most modest thing to do.

"ARRROOOoo!"

I eyed the cage. Without a key or Jake's lock-picking skills, Marco had had to morph flea to get inside. In the throes of the transformation, he had barely succeeded. He didn't even finish the morph. As soon as he was small enough, I shoved him inside, and… Well, nothing happened for a bit. Ax feared that the lack of sentience in the creature taking control of Marco's body might get him stuck mid-morph. But I guess the wolf instinct counted for something. He eventually demorphed right into his werewolf form. It was horrific, actually.

But it wasn't nearly as bad as the four minutes and twenty-three seconds of an inexplicably still, half-morphed mass of Marco and werewolf and flea. I think that was one of the worst moments of my life.

And now, I was dressing in Marco's discarded clothes, bringing another Marco into the world after he and I had just agreed that we wouldn't morph sentient creatures. That it was wrong. That it was too much like what Yeerks did.

But he gave me his permission. Just like we'd given our permission to Ax. Just like Ax had a need to pass as human, I had a need to pass as Marco. Ax couldn't do it. He needed to start acquiring Jake's relatives as soon as possible.

But something about it still seemed… wrong.

I shook my head. Doubts about what we might do in the future wasn't going to get us out of trouble in the present. Morphing was the only weapon we had. We had to use it.

Didn't we?

I focused on the memory of Marco. Ax had promised that the condition wasn't carried with the morph, but it still made me nervous to hear the wolf at my back while I tried to concentrate on Marco's form. There wasn't a lot of change, really. I felt myself shrink slightly. The ill-fitting clothes began conforming better to my body. I felt my hair collapse down my back. It seemed weird that the morph should get the length right, but maybe that was why imagination was an important component. The hair was lank and strange to touch. And…

I opened my eyes.

Yes, it was in front of my face. Irritated, I pushed it away. It fell back again. "Marco's hair is stupid, and he needs to get it cut," I grumbled. I was surprised to hear Marco's voice utter the words, though they didn't sound like him, really. I turned to Ax. "Do I look like Marco?"

He inspected me with all four eyes. <The morphs is correct, but…>

"But?" I asked, suddenly very frightened.

<You somehow seem… Cassie.>

"Seem Cassie?" I repeated. I supposed I could see what he meant. In his human morph, he didn't act very much like either me or Marco. He was still Ax. "I guess that's something we'll both have to be careful with," I said. I started demorphing again. "Okay, you head back to Rachel and Tobias. If Rachel says Tobias has been strong the entire time, then I guess we can leave him alone with Jake and the button. If not, you'll have to wait until I get back there from Marco's house."

Ax nodded. <So you will be Marco tonight, and I will be Jake for three days.>

"Unless we get caught," I said, feathers spreading across my body.

<Yes. And in that case…?>

"I have no idea," I admitted. "Multiple plans is kind of what Marco's for."

"ARROOOOooOOOOOooOOOoo!"

* * *

It took me a little while to find Marco's new apartment, since I'd never been there before. I landed on the fire escape and started my demorph there, prying open Marco's window the moment I had the dexterity and strength enough to do so.

I shoved myself inside, falling straight to the floor. I waited a moment after demorphing, then reached up to close the window and the curtains without showing my face, like Marco had advised me to, just in case anyone had seen me. I badly needed a rest. I couldn't count how many times I'd already morphed that day. But I couldn't afford to rest yet.

I drug myself to Marco's small dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Something normal people would wear instead of a dumb "morphing clothes," which is just what we called the uncomfortably tight shirts, shorts, swimsuits, etc. that we had to wear for modesty. I pulled the items on over what I was already wearing. I really wanted as much Marco modesty as possible. This whole thing was  _so_  wrong.

It took much longer to find socks and shoes. So much so that I'd already felt rested up enough to morph again by the time I found them under underpants and comic books (really, Marco?) under his bed.

And then I heard the phone ring.

"Ow!" Note to self: get out from under the bed before attempting to stand up. Once that was accomplished, I made a dash for the interior of the apartment, where the phone was ringing. Marco's dad wasn't in sight. I wondered where he could be.

I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I asked.

"Marco?"

"Uh… Yes?"

"This is the seventh time I've called! Where have you been?"

Ooh, so that was where Marco's dad was.

"Uh… Out with Jake?"

"The sun has just gone down! You know that's your curfew!"

"I'm sorry! I was-- We were caught up in… In things."

"Right. Goofing off things?"

"No. Maybe? I don't…"

"Look, Marco, I know you know the rules. If you can't be home before dark, you won't be getting more visits to the comic shop."

"I… I'm sorry?" That sounded really bad for tonight's cover. "Is it still okay for Jake to be over tonight?"

"He's already there?"

"Yes."

"He has his parents' permission?"

"Yes."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, then, "Okay, fine. Only because it's better to have two of your there than for you to be alone. But I want you to call Jake's parents and let them know you aren't being supervised. I don't want to hear about this later, Marco."

"What do you mean we won't be supervised?"

Another pause. I thought I might have heard a sigh. "I'm having to work another night. I won't be home until late. Late enough that both of you should be asleep when I get home."

"Okay, Dad!" I said quickly, not really sure how else to respond.

"Be good, Marco."

"I love you, too." I hung up, wincing at my own awkwardness. That was severely embarrassing, but I was I was pretty sure I'd gotten away with it. I reached to put the phone back on its charging base…

Right next to the photo Visser One.

* * *

I perched near a whirlwind of leaves. <Whoa! Tobias! Calm down!>

The leaves dropped like they were made of lead. Tobias flickered over toward me. He was pretty substantial but… spooky. " _You took your time_ ," he hissed.

<I know,> I assured him, fluttering to the forest floor to demorph. <I had to rest down. I was afraid of exhausting. I'm sorry. I got here as soon as I felt up to it, I promise.>

Tobias didn't say anything, and he flickered back over to Jake's side. Jake watched me with a sort of ominous glare that sent chills down my spine. He tilted his head, curious. "That's not what you were wearing earlier."

I shivered and told myself that it was Jake who had noticed my morphing outfit earlier and not the Yeerk. That the Yeerk's eyes had not been combing my body until this point. I still badly wanted it to stop.

"That's Marco's morphing outfit."

I hesitated. Did this give something away? Had I made a mistake?

He smirked. "So you took the dog's place at home to make the excuses while he howled in his cage? How'd you even get him in? No, I have a better question… Have you realized that we all know about Marco's condition? Whatever the vampires know, we know."

" _Jake is at Marco's house every fullmoon_ ," Tobias corrected the Yeerk. " _It's what a good friend does_."

The Yeerk scowled. Then, its gaze moved back to me. "Did you do a good job? Remember to cry about Visser One?"

I froze.

Leaves blasted out away from us. Twigs snapped off branches and flew away with the same gust. Tobias was in front of me, flickering and monochrome. " _WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?_ "

"Tobias, I--"

" _YOU AND MARCO AND JAKE ARE KEEPING SECRETS ABOUT THE VISSER?_ "

"No! I don't think that's what's going on!" I reasoned desperately, not missing the Yeerk's wriggling during our distraction. I glared pointedly in his direction, and he stopped with a faux-innocent grin.

" _You don't think?_ " Tobias repeated.

"I… I'm sorry, Tobias, but I really think this is Marco's issue to discuss. If he doesn't want to--"

" _JUST BECAUSE HE WAS VOTED BOSS?"_

"Because… Because it's his… his…" How did I word this without telling what little I might know? "Because it's his life that it affects, okay? Not ours. His. You just have to believe me on that."

Tobias just stood there, flickering, but I could swear I saw more color come into his image.

"Do you really believe that?" asked the Yeerk, and I felt ill. I could see exactly what he was doing. "Do you really think you can trust them to be honest with you? The loser? The outsider? The insubstantial and so  _easily_  ignorable?"

" _No_."

I felt sick. I didn't know what to do if the Yeerk created the distraction he needed. I couldn't get the others back now. What could I possibly say to convince Tobias?

" _But I can trust Cassie_."

I blinked at him in surprise.

And then I turned to the Yeerk and grinned.


	6. Johanna (Jake & Rachel backstory)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1945...

_< Let's find that dear brother of yours.>_

_< PISS OFF>_

_< You didn't actually stay gone, did you? No, you aren't the type.>_

"I don't know, Nate," Johanna told the phone, her fingers grazing the inner side of the bathroom door and a deep scowl on her face. "I think an animal must have gotten in. We've… we've sort of had a problem the past couple years…" Her fingers now wound through the stretched curls of the long phone cord. "No, I don't think so. I think it'll be better once G is back."

Jake immediately perked up on hearing this, turning away from his shaking "sister" to listen better.

"Yes, they're still here. No, I like having them around. They're helpful, good children. I… I don't…" Something was murmured. "Things will be better when G is back."

_< But they weren't, were they?>_

_< I'm sure they were fine.>_

_< Your little pact to stay for family. To protect family. Why isn't Johanna still in the family?>_

_< Their marriage wasn't my business.>_

_< You didn't seem to feel that way when you were using a lonely housewife to put you up.>_

Johanna stood in the doorway as Jake packed away Rachel's things. Rachel hated packing and sat in the corner, reading _Green for Danger_ and chewing her nails. "You're leaving?" Johanna asked at last.

Jake forced a smile on his face and then turned toward her. "Our parents have called for--"

"G's parents buried you a long time back."

Jake dropped Rachel's dress. Rachel, however, neither glanced up from her book nor stopped chewing on her nails.

"How do you… I mean… What do you…"

"You think I lived with him all these years and never saw a picture of his precious baby brother?" Johanna shook her head. " _Jake_ , there are old albums in this house."

"I don't…  That's not my..."

"Whatever happened… Stay." She reached out and touched his shoulder. "Please."

"Jojo, watcha think happened to the bathroom door?" Rachel murmured from her corner.

Johanna looked down, lowered her hands, and clasped them politely in front of her. Finally, she said, "Gideon will understand."

Jake scowled and picked Rachel's dress up off the floor. "You'll tell him nothing. Understand? We'll leave before he arrives, and the only story you'll have to tell is how Jared and Ruth stayed with you. And if anyone looks far enough to find there never was a Jared and Ruth in this family, you will feel foolish for falling for the ruse of young drifters."

The look she gave him was even sadder than the excuses she was willing to supply. "But you're a miracle…"

"Get out."

_< What an ungrateful child.>_

_< GET OUT!>_


	7. A Prince without Robes (Marco)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everybody dies. That’s the big secret they don’t want to tell you when you’re a kid. And then you lose your goldfish. And then you lose your cat. And then you lose this old dude you were apparently related to and people say you met but you don’t really remember much. And then you lose your mom. And you ask how many more times that’s gonna happen. You ask how to stop it.
> 
> And someone sits you down, and they say that you can’t.
> 
> Maybe they give you a nice story about it. Maybe they tell you about green pastures. Or heaven. Or, shit, I dunno, whatever other people believe in.
> 
> But it’s all sugar coating on the horrid truth. The grand reveal of the inevitability of death. And we think that this thing that happens to everyone is the worst thing that can happen.
> 
> But it’s not.
> 
> My name is Marco, and I can tell you that there are worse things than death. I dream of them at night. I exchange jokes with them through the day. I battle them at sundown in a for-real monkey suit. I turn into one of them every full moon.
> 
> You can’t imagine. So let me tell you.
> 
> There are worse things than death.

* * *

I woke up naked on the dusty, cold concrete floor of the abandoned "dog fighting" arena, coated in sweat. The stench of …  _stuff_  from transformation and from the wolf filled my nose. I made a mental note to bring a hose in here. There had to be a tap somewhere if this had been a former murder cage.

I looked around groggily. I was alone. Absolutely alone. But someone had left a package of crackers and a can of coke. Next to that was some clothes.

And a key tied to the side of the cage. Where had they gotten a key? Well, at least I didn't have to morph flea again. I'd be happy never ever turning into another bug for the rest of my life.

Ugh, what a weird thing to say. What had my life become?

I had to swat at the key a few times. My jackass friends had tied it slightly too high and awkwardly. But I finally snatched it and unlocked the cage. I downed my shitty breakfast easily and looked at the clothes. Old jeans that couldn't possibly fit me, and a t-shirt in the same category. I couldn't wear them, much less morph in them.

Whoever had been there had no idea who I was. My friends hadn't left these things. I… I had no idea what I thought about that.

I morphed seagull, took the key up in by beak, and headed home, where Cassie had left the window open for me. A stupid gull dodging into a window was much less weird than an osprey doing the same, even if the distance flying wasn't quite as fun.

"Marco, is that you?" I asked myself. Ax, who was demorphed in the bottom of my closet, raised his sleepy head from the wall at the sound.

<Yeah,> I replied, dropping the key onto the bedspread. <Close the window. And, uh… some privacy?>

"Okay, but what is this?" Cassie asked, picking up the key and turning away as I started demorphing. She slid off the bed and went to my dresser.

<Someone left food, a key, and clothes that couldn't possibly fit me at the cage last night. Did any of you come back?>

"What? No! Oh my god, someone was  _there_?"

<Seems like. But I don't think a vamp would do that.>

"Why not?"

<Because they've spent the past month barking at me, being frightened of me, or threatening to 'put me down'?>

Cassie tossed some clothes on the bed without looking at me.

<Found your way around my room pretty fast,> I joked.

"I had to clean some things up before you had company."

I snorted, apparently demorphed enough to do so. "Cassie, I don't ever clean up for Jake."

"Right. Of course. I was being silly, I guess." There was something off about the way she said it.

I shook my head as feathers disappeared into my skin, and I grabbed my pants with still semi-joined fingers. I turned off the side of the bed to get dressed, when I noticed something missing on the wall. I stared at the space for a long moment before I remembered what it was.

A photo of my mother.

The mother who was supposed to be drowned at sea. The mother that I'd discovered on the mission before last was actually the vampiric host of Visser One, boss Yeerk above Visser Three. Visser Three was the Yeerk currently invading Earth. Cassie and Ax had been there on the same mission when she'd kicked my gorilla ass.

Cassie had seen the photos and removed them before our Andalite friend came over and saw them. I didn't know what to think.

I felt ill. Was that something I wanted her to do? Was that the person I wanted Cassie to be? Wasn't that what I'd just asked of Jake?

Shit.

<Prince Marco, are you okay?>

"What?" I asked, turning to Ax. He was watching my face with one stalk eye, having gathered by now that we didn't really like being watched changing but still not understanding it enough to respect it entirely. Cassie still had her back to me. "Fine, man. Morph Jake before Dad comes in."

"He might sleep in," Cassie informed me. "He worked very late." She sounded like Cassie again.

"How cranky was he?" I asked.

"He wasn't!" she promised. "He barely said anything! He just went to bed."

"Cassie…"

"What?"

I sighed. "Nothing. Never mind."

"I'm gonna morph to get back to my own room before my parents notice I haven't done the morning chores, okay?" she said.

"Morph gull. At least to get out. Consistency is good."

"Do you want me to take the key?"

"Nah, let Ax have it. He can be keeper of things." I grinned at Ax. "Whatcha think?"

<I have started construction of my scoop. It should have room to safely contain the team's souvenirs.>

Cassie giggled. "Souvenir," she repeated. I suppose she was imagining something like a snow globe from our visit to the Yeerk Mother ship.

"What is a scoop?" I asked.

<It is an Andalite residence. We construct them ourselves, outdoors. They vary in size and type, but they are… a necessity, for long-term stay.>

I realized what Ax was saying. He was accepting that he wasn't getting off this rock any time soon, and he was settling down in his home away from home.

The sick feeling grew worse.

"What do we do about it, though? Someone else knowing about you?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know," I admitted, gathering up another set of clothes from the floor for Ax. "I guess they don't know I'm a morpher? They must think I'm just another werewolf and have felt bad for me."

<If they were a werewolf, wouldn't they have been unavailable at the time?> asked Ax.

<An ally of some sort?> suggested Cassie.

"Absolutely not!" I said, turning to them and tossing the clothes to Ax. "We're not going to decide random sneaky strangers are friends. This person has a lot more info over us than we do over them."

<All they know is that there has been a werewolf in the old arena,> said Cassie. <Since they left a key, they might think someone else locked you up in there.>

"And you know what they can do with that knowledge?" I demanded, my voice squeaking because it likes to do that at the worse damn moments. "Murder me while I don't have the presence of mind to defend myself."

Ax was surprised by the suggestion. "Prince Marco, I hope you have faith in our ability to learn from this. We would not leave you undefended again."

Cassie fluttered. <Yes! Of course!>

Grumbling, I stomped around to the other side of the bed and picked up Cassie. "Whatever. You need to get home. And I need to walk 'Jake' back to his house and make sure he passes with Tom. I'll probably be spending most of the day with him, unless his parents kick me out. Do you think the three of you can handle Sluggo?"

Cassie the seagull nodded, and I gently tossed her out the window.

* * *

Of course, it was Tom who answered the door. "It's nearly noon. I was starting to think you were moving in with him."

"Nah, reverse," I teased. "Say hi to your newest 'cousin' in residence."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Taking in this one does not make us an orphanage."

I scowled despite myself. "I'm not an orphan."

Tom blinked, surprised for some reason. And then he shook his head. "Right. Uh… There's still some leftover breakfast inside." He stepped aside to let us in, and luckily he was looking away when I had to grab Ax's waistband to keep him from tripping over the stoop.

It was also very lucky that no one bothered checking in on Ax's horrific devouring of leftover pancakes as he learned what taste was like.

It was a bit unbelievable that his strange new speech pattern was accepted as "a new game at school."

It was downright miraculous that no one said anything about his somewhat blonder hair and slightly shorter stature. Or the fact that he'd lost weight.

When Cassie called at four to "invite us over" to the clinic, I couldn't have been more grateful.


	8. Tom (Tom & Temrash backstory)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1994...

| FUCKING DISGUSTING | 

"Who's that walking out with Katie?" he asked.

This other guy from the basketball team, who was sitting with him, shook his head.

He decided to walk out after her.

| THE STAKE STARTS TO FEEL FAMILIAR | 

Hands. Hands all over his body. He struggled, and he fought uselessly.

His head was shoved beneath water.

| GET OUT | 

"So how did your club thing go?" his mother asked, passing the spaghetti to his father.

"It was great," he said with a big smile. "I made a new friend."

"Did you? asked his mother.

"He means a girl," his father teased.

"Do I?" he teased back.

"I'm glad you had fun," his cousin said, only taking the minimal amount of food to keep his mother from worrying as usual. He'd been starting to wonder if the kid had issues. He'd made sure to fill in as much of a good brotherly role as he could, but, while the kid was strange, nothing had revealed itself.

"They made me a full member, so I'm going to be getting a lot more involved now," he informed them. He immediately cut his father off, saying, "It'll look great on college applications."

"That's great thinking ahead!" his father said, adding salad to the plate the second time his mother shoved it at him. "Maybe we should check it out sometime."

"They have a family day o--"

<DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE! DON'T YOU TOUCH A HAIR ON THEIR HEADS!>

A smile was forced on his face. "I'll get back to you," he said. But at the same time, the Yeerk taunted. <Not _any_ of them? > and directed his eyes right to his cousin, Jonathan.

He felt inexplicably chilled. <What is that supposed to mean?>

| GET IT OUT DESTROY IT BLOOD FIRE WOOD FAITH | 

With Vice Principal Chapman/Iniss two-two-six's knowledge, he hid in the pantry of the Chapmans' kitchen, the slats in the door barely providing a view. Supposedly, the spices in the cupboard were masking his scent, though he was still made to shower twice first. With baking soda instead of anything that carried recognizable scent.

<What the hell are we hiding from? The man-eating caterpillars?>

<Sort of. You'll see.>

And then he clamped his hands over his mouth. Hard. <Why are you doing that?>

<In case your stupid instincts take over momentarily.>

<This sounds very stupid.>

<I think it'll work in my favor.>

There was a knock at the back door, and Chapman/Iniss let them in. Jonathan Sargent and Rebecca Hyde.

<NO! NO! YOU CAN'T RECRUIT THEM! YOU CA--!>

<Oh shut up. We won't force any recruitment of them at our current stage of invasion. Jake and Rachel are too dangerous.>

<Ja… Who are Jake and Rachel?>

<Oh, come now, Tommy, surely you remember the stories your great grandfather told? The great grandfather that "Jonathan" never visits? Surely you've noticed the way that the adults look at them?>

Jonathan was talking to Chapman/Iniss about something. Rebecca was shaking and pale, and Jonathan was holding her back.

<They're just kind of weird. Adults have a low tolerance for that sort of thing.>

<No, that's not it at all, Thomas,> said the Yeerk. <They're not weird…>

When Chapman shook his head, Rebecca dove for him! Faster than he'd ever seen anything move! Jonathan grabbed her easily and swung her back against the wall like she was made of tissue paper. Even under Yeerk control, his whole body flinched in horror, and he nearly cried out.

The Yeerk laughed. <They're **inhuman**. >

With totally black eyes and visible fangs, Jonathan returned his attention to Chapman, who, after some more back and forth, fetched two hospital-style packets of blood from the fridge, noting that there was "more useful stuff" if Jonathan would get the "stake" out of his ass. Rebecca tore into the first one so fast that most of the blood ran down her arms and chin and shirt and even spilled right onto the tile floor.

<That's in your family, Thomas. That's in your house. That sleeps a few feet from your parents, and there is absolutely nothing reigning it in. Do you have any idea how many of your relatives it has already "accidentally" killed? How many of your own families were gruesomely torn apart? I'm not clear myself, but I can ask Iniss once they're gone...>

<Why would you do this? Why would you show me this?>

<All I want is a host. A body. They want to _eat_ you, Thomas. You and everyone you love. They're the  _real_ parasites. They make you provide for them as long as possible, and then they destroy you, and then they move on to another branch of the family tree. Stop fighting me, Thomas, and I'll give you the skills to defend your family. Iniss knows where to get them. Weigh the options, Tom. What's really more important? Who is the _real_ threat here? >

| KILL THE VAMPIRE SAVE THE FAMILY | 

They considered the ramshackle old cabin carefully. <Is that blood on the doorframe?> he asked.

<Iniss said she was… _eccentric_ ,> said Temrash.

They pushed past the fence with the no trespassing sign (the fence also had dried blood right where he needed to grip it), followed the walkway up but didn't step on it (as per Iniss's advice, though the Yeerk hadn't explained why), and stepped onto the warped boards of the wooden porch, which immediately creaked under his step.

A shotgun blast shattered wood off the column next to them and set Tom's ears ringing. He turned to see that a shadowed window at the far end of the house was just barely cracked enough to let the nose of the gun through. "That wasn't a miss!" a woman's voice shouted. "And I won't miss next time, either!"

They presented their hands. "Uh, I've been informed that you can't see it, but I have no other proof for you than the fact that I already touched that stuff you have everywhere, which I assume is some kind of trap?"

They heard her laugh. "You religious, boy?"

"I dunno. Sort of?"

Another laugh. She didn't believe them at all. "Well, you leave and find yourself a priest to--"

"Rabbi," Tom corrected instinctively, and it _was_ Tom who corrected her.

There was a long pause. Then, "Stay the fuck there. Don't move, or there's no one who'll find your bones."

_< No. No…>_

_< Whose the monster now, Jacob? Who?! Let us go ask your nephew!>_


	9. The Inner Child (Jake)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a question that I never asked myself. A question I really should have considered. I thought I was the baddest thing. I thought I was the monster in the dark.
> 
> The question I should have asked is: If I exist… what else does?
> 
> For that matter, what doesn’t exist because I do?
> 
> My name is Jake, and I am not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One sentence at the end is rendered in Zalgo. If you have issues with Zalgo, this note functions to warn you. In the interest of preventing spoilers, my notes on that part appear at the end of the fic. The version of this fic which appears on morphing-human.tumblr.com does not use Zalgo.

* * *

"You think Dead Boy knows what's better for your family than you do?" Temrash taunted Rachel. It was the third day of this, and I was getting really fucking tired of listening to him berate my friends and toss through memories like he was putting together a slideshow for Junior Prom.

"Shut up!" Rachel demanded, stamping her foot.

"Don't let him get to you," Tobias said, reaching out to comfort her again.

Rachel pulled away angrily. "Don't tell me what to do! You all think you can tell me what to do! You haven't been here! You don't care! It'd be easier on you without me and Jake, wouldn't it?"

"Rachel, that's not true!"

"He can't get rid of you," said Temrash. "Not before knowing about Visser One."

If I survived this, Marco was going to murder me.

Rachel just looked confused, but Tobias rounded on her. "You're in on it, too? Am I the only one not in on Marco's secrets?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah, sure you don't!"

"Imaginary friends are for convenience," said Temrash, laughing. "No one cares about their feelings."

"You can shut up," Rachel snapped.

"Why? Afraid I might say something inconvenient?" Temrash pouted.

"You know what?" Rachel threw the remote at Tobias, and I guess --as much as I hate to admit it-- both me and the Yeerk jerked. Tobias caught it easily without setting it off, though.

"HEY!" Temrash snapped. "Careful with that! We're both fond of this head, y'know."

Rachel spun toward me and stormed up. "Don't you ever dare speak for him, you fucking filthyass slug!" she screamed. And I mean _screamed_. She was definitely mad. It was odd to see her so emotional in human face. "I don't care what you've pried out in your brief stay, it's not your right! Don't you ever fucking say words with his mouth and fucking dare to call them his! You are on your last legs, and you goddamn know it! So shut your goddamn mouth!"

And then she stormed off. Just left Tobias alone there.

As soon as she was gone, Temrash started struggling against the ropes again. Tobias angrily aimed the remote at him. "Stop that! I have the button!"

"And?" Temrash asked blandly, continuing to pull at the ropes, which easily began fraying and working lose under the force of my strength.

"And I can use it."

"Yeah, _can_ ," said Temrash, laughing again. "But you won't. You don't do anything but blow wind. That's all you've ever done. Even in life. That's why no one ever noticed you around, and no one has noticed you gone. Useless. Unneeded. Put up with out of pity and obligation. Sure, we can perceive you, but what does that really mean? It doesn't tie you to the world any more than it did before. You're as noticed as a small fart and equivalently threatening."

The ropes fell loose, and Temrash stood up, stretching my severely cramped legs and rubbing my friction-burned wrists. Looking around, he found that Tobias was absent and the remote was sitting on the old leaves making up the forest floor. Temrash smirked in satisfaction and unbuckled the collar from my neck.

He looked around and gaged where the barn was, based on where everyone had approached from, then searched my memories of the layout of Cassie's property and its location in the town.

It took six hours to walk far enough into town. Temrash was jumpy at every flutter of movement, but not a single morph was sighted. I wanted to resist. To throw a wrench in his plans, but I had nothing left. I had already used so much mental energy the past three days, and I'd barely succeeded in creating even a flinch in my own body. What could that do when no one was looking? When there was no one around to see that I needed saving?

I've woken up in a pile of dead bodies and not felt this lost and morose and confused.

Temrash walked around the back of a Wendy's and knocked on an outer door in a specific rhythm.

Immediately, I was pulled aside around the side of the building into the bushes! A hand clamped over my mouth! Not just any hand! A massive, muscular gorilla hand! How? When?

<Dude, you looked directly at us at least seven times on the way over here,> Marco mocked. <It's an _animal clinic_. We can get new morphs. And hi, Jake. >

Someone, presumably a Controller, came out of the door and looked around, confused. "Hey! Hello? Doesn't someone need in?"

<And now we have a new Yeerk pool entrance,> Marco explained. <Thanks buddy.>

The Controller closed the door behind them and stepped further out. "Hello?"

An empty can wriggled in place, tapping against the door in the exact same rhythm. I could just barely see the outline of Tobias. That faker! Those brilliant assholes!

The Controller snapped around, then saw the can. Rolling their eyes, they kicked the can aside, mumbling about rats, and reentered the backdoor with a set of keys. Tobias started to snatch the keys but must have been privately told not to, because he just reappeared next to us instead.

My body went lax. Temrash just stared at the closed door in utter broken-hearted disbelief. <You're going to kill me,> he finally realized.

<Welcome to the human condition,> I snarled.

<Come on, sweetie, let's get you back home,> said Marco. <You've had a big day.>

Temrash thrashed and bit and strained, but I'd been weakened by three days of sun exposure, and Marco had the upper hand with his bear hug.

I was quickly knocked out again.

* * *

"Jake?"

My eyes slowly blinked open again.

"Jake, are you okay?"

"Cassie, help me…"

She frowned. "I know that's not Jake speaking. I was never actually that stupid. That game's over now."

I frowned, too. "I know." I was shaking.

The look on her face changed immediately. She was actually concerned for the Yeerk. And then she looked away, at the ground, not wanting the others to see her bothered.

They surrounded me. Marco. Tobias. Ax. Rachel. I wasn't tied up. I didn't have the control collar on. It wasn't necessary now.

<The fugue is beginning,> Ax decided. <The Yeerk will be dead soon.>

And then I was surrounded by water! Vague shapes surrounded me. I didn't see them in the usual way, but I sensed them all. My brothers and sisters.

Hands on my body. "Ax, man, that is a _lot_ of shaking…"

A strange, lop-sided, ape-like creature. So that was what a Gedd looked like. I looked down at my own hands. Gedd hands. My hands. My body. Mine.

<You're enjoying this aren't you?>

<You certainly enjoyed him.>

<Can you say you've never felt the same? Remember, I've been in your head, _parasite_. >

"Whoa! Hold him down!"

"Jake? Jake, just hold out! It's not long now."

<I don't want to see this.>

<Tough nuggets,> said Temrash. <No one dies with dignity. Humans shit themselves. Vampires collapse into ember and ash. Werewolves go out screaming. Yeerks overshare.>

<Thank you for that insight, Miss Congeniality.>

And then the dam broke. Memories flooded in. Good times. Bad times. Alien emotions that I didn't recognize. Not a single memory of love, but there _was_ affection. Pride. Fear. Regret. Other things I could understand.

Along with his memories, I started to get the memories of his hosts. The Gedd who had a name I could never hope to pronounce. The Hork-Bajir warrior who had fought the Yeerk in his head every day of his life. The Hork-Bajir who had been forced to attack his own kind, to destroy his own friends and family, as an unwilling slave of the Yeerks. But it was more than just memories. It was more. The Yeerk had carried with him some small part of that Hork-Bajir warrior's being.

I sensed the part I feared most coming. After what I'd already been shown, I knew how much he hated and feared me, how much time he'd dedicated to preparing my undoing. I saw memories from Tom's childhood and preteen years. I saw our meeting from his perspective. And then, suddenly, Temrash managed to hold back somehow. I got some of the bad stuff. But it was filtered and glitchy and messed up and hard to decipher.

<Thank you.>

Temrash didn't answer.

The pain ebbed. The memories filtered away as we blended into shared experience. I felt control return to me. I blinked open my eyes and saw Cassie's staring back at me, pleading. I smiled weakly. _I_ smiled.

Finally, Temrash spoke. <So… you win… SubHuman Type One…>

The Yeerk shuddered. I could feel it. A physical spasm. My vision changed. I felt... it's hard to describe. I felt as if I were seeing through things, into things. Like I could see the front and back and top and bottom and inside of every thing all at once.

And then I saw it.

My face.

No, not my face. A face very similar to mine. As similar to me as Tom was to Gideon, I suppose. But his eyes were huge, wide with fury, and glowing red like a hot iron. It opened its mouth, and it raged,

G͌̒I̻̪̦̯̲̰͙̐̈̾͆V͊Ë͕́̓͂ͦ̋͟ ̗̪͚͍͉ͥ̚̕M͡E̮͕͉̮̼̥ ͉̪͉͔͎̭ͨͥ͂͘B̸A̖͂̃̚͜C͎̪̮ͨͥͧ̍̔K̯̤͔̈͂̂ͤ̔͆ ̧̙̻̜̬̹̤̦̂͛̓W̹̬̫͈̟̮̜ͨ̆H͉̗͓̠͓̯ͩÃ̏̐ͮ͗ͤṪ̠͎͇̺̥͎͋́̉'̔̎S̵͉̦̫͂̌ ͤͭ̽̊̏ͬͨM͙̠̼̦̹͔͜I̭̹̫̝̬͚͓͊̏ͬN̥̹̳͚̹̽̃̃ͭͤͥEͦ̈́̒̈́̏҉̻

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This plot was actually inspired more by the show than the book because the trick was an interesting addition, IMO.
> 
> Also, when I originally wrote this, I had rendered that final text in Zalgo. When I edited it, I changed it to its own font, because Zalgo cannot be read by Text-to-Speech or other accessibility devices. Unfortunately, here, I do not have that option, so I'm forced to use Zalgo again. For those with accessibility issues, I will simply inform you here that it says "Give me back what's mine", and I apologize if I made your devices screech at you.


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